Two Birds on a Tree – Mundakopanishad

by Roopa Pai
(minor editing done)

Now let me tell you a story about two birds on a tree. They are inseparable, these two, always
within sight of each other, always coming to rest on the same tree. One of them is usually
perched on a lower branch – let’s call her the lower bird – the other, golden and radiant, perches
on a higher one. The lower bird knows well that her companion is around, somewhere near her,
and dearly wants to spend more time with her, but even as the thought crosses her mind, she
spots a luscious-looking fruit. Waves of desire wash over her, wiping the thought of her friend
from her mind, and she hops eagerly towards the fruit and begins to eat, enjoying the taste of it.
One she has finished, her mind begins to drift towards her friend again, but suddenly,
another fruit catches her eye, even more juicy-looking than the last. Friend forgotten, she races
towards it greedily, even though she is no longer hungry. She gobbles this one up too, and as she
is scooping up the last bits, she spots yet another fruit. She thinks about waiting a while, even till
the next day, but she is suddenly nervous and insecure. “What if that fruit is not there
tomorrow?” she asks herself. “What if some other bird grabs it? What if I never find any other
fruit again and, horror of horrors, die of starvation?” Working herself up into a state, she hops
frantically to the new fruit and swallows it too.
And what of her friend, the higher bird? She does not move at all from her perch. She
sits there, calm and composed, undistracted by all the delicious-looking fruit around her, quietly
watching the frenzied activity below. She is not troubled by the fact that her friend does not
seem to want her company, for she trusts that she will arrive eventually, when she is ready.
So this lower bird continues hopping form fruit to fruit, until one day, something
completely unexpected happens. She takes a bite of the fruit that has just popped into her line of
sight, and…gags. The fruit is bitter, so bitter that it is unbearable! As she wallows in self-pity,
she remembers her friend, the higher bird. “Oh, how good it would feel to narrate my tale of
woe to a friend who truly understands!” she thinks, and looks up, seeking her. And there she is,
that golden-hued friend, patiently waiting, exactly where she had first perched.
Full of gratitude, and feeling vaguely guilty that she has neglected her all this while, the
lower bird begins to fly up to her friend, but it is a long journey, and soon enough, her mind- and
her eyes – begin to wander. Needless to say, they soon light upon…what else but another
succulent fruit! All thoughts of her friend vanish, and she flutters away towards it, to get in her
cycle of frantic, pointless activity all over again.
When the lower bird finally reaches the higher bird, it is reassured, and low-and behold
finds that there is no other bird!

Symbolism:
The lower bird is the lesser Self (jivatma), comprised of the senses, the mind and the intellect.
The higher bird is the Supreme Self (paramatman/purusha). Both of them rest in the tree that is
the body. But the lower Self is too distracted by the luscious fruit, the temptations of the
material world, and chases after them, forgetting the friend who accompanied it here, who is
even now waiting, patiently above. Only when she comes across a bitter fruit – a bitter life
experience – does the lower Self finally go in search of the higher one, looking for solace,
compassion and reassurance. When the lesser Self finally reaches the Supreme Self, on its tenth,
hundredth, thousandth attempt, it realizes that it had been deluded on this count as well – there
has never been another bird! As she merges into that golden radiance that has been her constant
companion, it finally dawns on the lower bird that the friend she had looked up to and adored
is…none other than herself!

Two birds of beautiful plumage perched on the tree,

One bound to the world and the other eternally free.
The free bird, serene, stood still on the tree-top,
Watching the lower one, bound, on the twigs do a hop.
Eating the fruits both sweet and bitter,
Spend its time and resources in a fritter.
The serene transcended both pleasure and pain,
Eating the fruits, the bound remained in chain.
The pain of bitter fruits taught it lessons of regret,
The pleasure of sweet fruits made it forget.
The pain of bitterness made the bound to ponder,
Resolving to reach the serene on the yonder.
Relinquishing its resolve with the arrival of pleasure,
Indulges in eating fruits again to go beyond at its leisure.
But the frequent bitterness in fruits kept it in remind,
To reach the serene as the goal of the mind.
Rises up to reach the serene, it will, only if little by little
At its own pace and measure to prove its mettle.
Approaching the serene it no longer remains bound
It and the serene were always One and so It found.
-Poem by Srikanth S.